


make you glad you came

by saunatonttu



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M, Post-Timeskip, vague GD route spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 03:07:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20400664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saunatonttu/pseuds/saunatonttu
Summary: ”I trust you.”Claude watches the words sink in – watches the way Lorenz’s eyes widen, the way his lips part ever so slightly from the shock – and thinks,oh, I’m in trouble.





	make you glad you came

It’s a calculated risk that he takes, but that’s how it often is with Claude’s decisions and schemes. Yet there’s something different in the air when he proposes the thrilling idea of fooling Lorenz’s dear ol’ dad so that their group would have an easier time getting to the Bridge of Myrddid and, hopefully, seize it from the Empire’s ever so tight grasp.

He knows why, even without the much too obvious glances his former classmates throw in Lorenz’s direction and which Lorenz in turn ignores as gracefully as is typical of him. The tension doesn’t leave, despite Claude’s reassurances, but that is to be expected.

Gloucester relations are complicated – most of them, at this point, know that.

And yet it isn’t anyone else from their ragtag group of soldiers that approaches Claude that night but Lorenz himself, stiff and brow furrowed as he stands before the door Claude has just opened.

”Lorenz,” Claude says, a grin on his face, ”whatever brings you here at this time? If anyone’s watching, they might get the wrong idea.”

The quick transformation from troubled to exasperation on Lorenz’s face fascinates Claude more than he cares to admit out loud. In the dim light in the hallway, Lorenz’s flush is barely noticeable as he huffs, the exasperation on his face audible in his voice now, ”There is no wrong idea to ’get’ so long as I merely stand in the hallway, Claude.”

”Then people will only comment on how poorly I treat my guests,” Claude hums. The delight he finds in the rapid changes in Lorenz’s expressions should be criminal. ”How cunning of you.”

”You–” The wrinkle that rises to the bridge of Lorenz’s nose makes Claude want to pinch it, but he resists the urge and keeps his hands on his hip as he watches Lorenz fumble with trying to keep his annoyance towards Claude in check. An amusing effort, though not one Lorenz usually puts much into.

”Lorenz,” Claude interrupts and drops the charade. ”What is it?”

He has a pretty good idea of what it is, but perhaps Lorenz needs to voice it to dispel his own doubts. He’s the painfully honest type of person, after all, similarly to how a certain prince of an icy kingdom was.

Claude ignores the pang in his chest at the thought of Dimitri. There’s nothing anyone can do for him anymore, no use dwelling on a man that’s been dead for nearly five years.

Lorenz, the man that is alive and in front of him, inhales, and some of the furrows between his brows ease off, though the worry does not. ”It’s… about my father,” Lorenz says softly, and the confidence he usually holds himself with wavers. ”About...”

”About the plan we discussed earlier,” Claude finishes for him.

”Indeed.” Lorenz’s hand hovers over his own chin, not quite touching, and it reminds Claude of a younger boy that had done the same – only, back then, Claude mistook the gesture to mean arrogant self-assurance. Now, coupled with the look on Lorenz’s face, Claude can’t help but think the hand serves as a barrier between them. A self-constucted wall behind which Lorenz hides.

Lorenz continues, ”I still do not quite understand the merit of… sharing it with me.”

”What’s there to understand?” Claude asks, cocks his head to a side as he observes Lorenz. ”I don’t hide anything from my capable allies.”

Lorenz’s eyes narrow, and he doesn’t need to speak for his doubt to be obvious. Claude snorts and plays sheepish as he says, ”Unless, of course, it is absolutely necessary. Which it wasn’t in this case.”

”You take too many needless risks, Claude,” Lorenz says, exasperation thick in his voice, but Claude sees the uncertainty cling to Lorenz’s eyes still. The hand between them rises until it appears Lorenz is talking to it instead of Claude, and that makes Claude feel– ”Of course, I’ll breathe not a word of this, but even so...”

–feel something bubble up in himself, a _need_ not based on any logical reason other than not wanting Lorenz to hide from him, even though Claude does it just as much as the man before him.

It’s, perhaps, a little hypocritical of him. But Claude has never claimed to be one of the Fódlan saints, or even a good man.

”Lorenz,” he says, and reaches out to grasp Lorenz’s hand by the wrist. He pulls it down and towards himself, all the while his eyes remain steady on Lorenz’s face that seems to have frozen in surprise at his actions. He squeezes the hand in his grasp, and his mouth forms the words before he can reconsider.

”I trust you.”

Claude watches the words sink in – watches the way Lorenz’s eyes widen, the way his lips part ever so slightly from the shock – and thinks, _oh, I’m in trouble._

The hand he holds trembles subtly, and the vulnerability on Lorenz’s face becomes more obvious now that nothing obscures Claude’s vision of it.

”You,” Lorenz says, and the disbelief in his voice is many degrees weaker than the wonder that colours the words, ”trust me.”

Under Claude’s fingers, Lorenz’s pulse races.

”With my life,” Claude confirms, though that – that might have been a bit much, considering the way Lorenz immediately looks away, just as embarrassed as Claude suddenly feels. But it isn’t a lie he’s just told, so Claude doesn’t take it back, only rubs his thumb over Loenz’s wrist.

”You are,” Lorenz manages, ”entirely too much.”

”So I hear,” Claude laughs, out of breath, and brings his free hand to the flushed cheek he’s stared at since opening the door. ”It’s what makes me so very charming, according to many.”

Lorenz doesn’t lean away from the touch, and Claude’s fingers curl over the soft curve of the warm cheek. If anything, Lorenz only looks hesitant – not affronted, not annoyed by the affection – and perhaps that is what he’s trying to mask away when he retorts, ”That is the wrong kind of charming, Claude.”

”You don’t seem to mind it much,” Claude says easily, and instinctively begins to lean up towards that flushed, vulnerable face as his hand moves from Lorenz’s cheek to the back of his head, fingers diving into well-cared hair and pushing gingerly until their foreheads meet.

Lorenz looks at him directly then, and there is nothing between them now, and for a moment Claude feels as though he has bared his soul to the other as much as Lorenz has to him.

It is… uncomfortable, Claude finds, but he doesn’t retreat.

”You are not your father,” he says instead in a low whisper, and his gaze locks with Lorenz’s, ”and I am not my grandfather.”

The soft smile that emerges on Lorenz’s face is worth the uncomfortable soul-baring. ”Such a simple sentiment,” Lorenz mutters into the space between their mouths, ”and yet… I find myself relieved to hear it.”

”Everyone needs a reminder every now and then.” Claude, too, whenever he’s confused by the different aspects of his own identity. But that’s a madness to consider another day – first, there’s a war to win.

Though, what Claude wants now doesn’t have much to do with the war.

”Absolutely right you are,” Lorenz agrees, and Claude strokes through his long hair before he can help himself. Lorenz’s face scrunches up, and Claude-

”May I?” he asks, glancing down at the upward-curled mouth to not leave any doubt as to what he means. The shiver that goes through Lorenz makes Claude smile wider, the delight genuine and warm in his chest as Lorenz struggles for words.

”Y-you may,” Lorenz says, breathless himself as he glances around as much as he can – which is not much with their foreheads pressed together. ”No one is around, after all.”

Claude’s smile is far more genuine than he intends it to be when he leans in to close the gap. It’s funny, he thinks as he kisses Lorenz and Lorenz kisses him back, how they’ve come so far from what they were back in school.

How they have both climbed the walls between them, only to meet at the top.

Lorenz’s free hand moves to Claude’s cheek, and there is a sincere _thank you_ in the way the long fingers stroke down the dark skin.

When Claude pulls away, he cannot help but ask, ”Join me inside for a while, won’t you? There’s something I might need your opinion on.”

Lorenz’s eyes crinkle, and _oh_, Claude is a goner once more. ”I will acqueisce only this one time, Claude. It is _horribly_ late.”

And, well, if they get distracted by each other and do not actually get much of Claude’s paperwork done – no one outside Claude’s cramped room will know that.

**Author's Note:**

> claurenz loving hours... on


End file.
